U.S. patent application number 11/265056 was filed with the patent office on 2006-05-11 for card connector.
This patent application is currently assigned to DDK LTD.. Invention is credited to Shoichi Hamano, Hitoshi Kikuchi, Hirokazu Takahashi, Kazunori Takei.
Application Number | 20060099856 11/265056 |
Document ID | / |
Family ID | 36316920 |
Filed Date | 2006-05-11 |
United States Patent
Application |
20060099856 |
Kind Code |
A1 |
Takei; Kazunori ; et
al. |
May 11, 2006 |
Card connector
Abstract
A card connector into and from which a plurality of cards are
inserted and removed, includes a required number of contacts, and a
housing arranging and holding the contacts and having one or plural
fitting openings each into which the card is inserted. The contacts
each includes contact portions to contact at least two cards so
that the same contact can be brought into contact with at least two
cards. The card connector has a high degree of freedom for design
of substrate and connector without complicating the arrangement of
connection portions of contacts and is easy to assemble and easy to
mount connection portions onto a substrate by a customer or
consumer.
Inventors: |
Takei; Kazunori; (Tokyo,
JP) ; Hamano; Shoichi; (Tokyo, JP) ; Kikuchi;
Hitoshi; (Tokyo, JP) ; Takahashi; Hirokazu;
(Tokyo, JP) |
Correspondence
Address: |
ABELMAN, FRAYNE & SCHWAB
666 THIRD AVENUE, 10TH FLOOR
NEW YORK
NY
10017
US
|
Assignee: |
DDK LTD.
|
Family ID: |
36316920 |
Appl. No.: |
11/265056 |
Filed: |
November 1, 2005 |
Current U.S.
Class: |
439/630 |
Current CPC
Class: |
H01R 27/02 20130101 |
Class at
Publication: |
439/630 |
International
Class: |
H01R 24/00 20060101
H01R024/00 |
Foreign Application Data
Date |
Code |
Application Number |
Nov 5, 2004 |
JP |
2004-321,645 |
Claims
1. A card connector into and from which a plurality of cards are
inserted and removed, including a required number of contacts each
having a contact portion adapted to contact said card, and a
housing arranging and holding said contacts and having one or
plural fitting openings each into which said card is inserted,
wherein said contacts each comprise contact portions to contact at
least two cards so that the same contact can be brought into
contact with at least two cards.
2. The card connector as set forth in claim 1, wherein said housing
includes an upper wall, a lower wall, two side walls for connecting
said upper and lower walls, and a rear wall, and these upper,
lower, two side and rear walls form said one or plural fitting
openings, and wherein said two side walls are each provided at the
inside with guide means for guiding the card to said contact
portions of said contacts when the card is inserted.
3. The card connector as set forth in claim 1, wherein said
contacts each comprise a connection portion at one end adapted to
be connected to a substrate or the like, a holding portion provided
contiguously to said connection portion for fixing said contact to
said housing, and contact pieces at the other end, which are formed
by dividing the portion adjacent to and extending from said holding
portion toward the other end into a plurality of pieces each having
a contact portion adapted to contact the corresponding card.
4. The card connector as set forth in claim 3, wherein the contact
pieces of said contacts adapted to contact a card to be inserted
into the fitting opening upper than the lowermost fitting opening
are bent such that the bent contact pieces of the contacts do not
extend into the lower fitting opening.
5. The card connector as set forth in claim 1, wherein said
contacts are inserted into said housing from the side of said
fitting opening and held in the housing.
6. A card connector into and from which two cards are inserted and
removed one above the other, including a required number of
contacts each having a contact portion adapted to contact said
card, and a housing arranging and holding said contacts and having
two fitting openings into which said cards are inserted,
respectively, wherein said contacts each comprise contact portions
to contact the two cards, respectively, so that the same contact
can be brought into contact with the two cards.
7. The card connector as set forth in claim 6, wherein said housing
includes an upper wall, a lower wall, two side walls for connecting
said upper and lower walls, and a rear wall, and these upper,
lower, two side and rear walls form said one or plural fitting
openings, and wherein said two side walls are each provided at the
inside with guide means for guiding the card to said contact
portions of said contacts when the card is inserted.
8. The card connector as set forth in claim 6, wherein said
contacts each comprise a connection portion at one end adapted to
be connected to a substrate or the like, a holding portion provided
contiguously to said connection portion for fixing said contact to
said housing, and contact pieces at the other end, which are formed
by dividing the portion adjacent to and extending from said holding
portion toward the other end into a plurality of pieces each having
a contact portion adapted to contact the corresponding card.
9. The card connector as set forth in claim 8, wherein the contact
pieces of said contacts adapted to contact a card to be inserted
into the fitting opening upper than the lowermost fitting opening
are bent such that the bent contact pieces of the contacts do not
extend into the lower fitting opening.
10. The card connector as set forth in claim 6, wherein said
contacts are inserted into said housing from the side of said
fitting opening and held in the housing.
Description
FIELD OF THE INVENTION
[0001] This invention relates to a card connector for use in
electric and electronic appliances in instruments and for use in
printers and card readers, and more particularly to a card
connector adapted to accommodate a plurality of cards by means of
the same contacts.
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
[0002] There have been many different kinds of cards as media for a
wide variety of information. It has been a common practice to
acquire or store various information from or onto a card inserted
into a card connector connected to an information appliance.
[0003] In prior art card connectors, contacts are arranged
correspondingly to cards which are able to be inserted into the
card connector, respectively, in one-to-one relationship, and the
contacts each at least comprise a contact portion adapted to
contact the card, a holding portion held in a housing, and a
connection portion to be connected to a substrate. Such card
connectors are disclosed in the following Patent Literature 1
(Japanese Patent Application Opened No. 2003-31,861) and Patent
Literature 2 (Japanese Patent Application No. 2004-161,293).
[0004] Patent Literature 1
[0005] According to the Abstract of the Japanese Patent Application
Opened No. 2003-31,861, this invention has an object to provide a
card connector for IC cards having a push-in and push-out mechanism
common to plural kinds of cards to achieve the miniaturization in
overall shape of the connector. In a card connector for IC cards
including a housing having an inserting opening common to plural
kinds of IC cards, into which an IC card is inserted to bring the
electrode of the IC card into connection with the contacts in the
inserting opening, the housing includes therein a slider adapted to
advance or retract in conjunction with push-in and push-out
operations of the IC card in the housing, and a locking mechanism
for locking the slider and the IC card when the push-in is effected
and for releasing the locking when the push-out is effected,
whereby a shape and a position are set in the slider depending upon
the width, length and front shape of the IC card, positions of
electrodes of the IC card, and positions of the contacts relative
to the housing, thereby enabling the slider to engage the IC card
in compliance with shapes of the plural kinds of IC cards. FIGS. 1
and 2 of the Patent Literature 1 illustrate contacts each
corresponding to respective card in one-to-one relationship.
[0006] Patent Literature 2
[0007] According to the Abstract of the Japanese Patent Application
No. 2004-161,293 filed by the applicant of the present case, the
invention has an object to provide a card connector which, after
one card has been inserted, is capable of preventing a further card
from being inserted and easy to design its housing and easy to
remove a card and achieves its miniaturization without any
limitation in circuit design of substrates and without any
obstruction to the high density of conductors. In a card connector
including a required number of contacts adapted to contact
connection portions of a plurality of memory cards and a housing
having a plurality of inserting openings for receiving a plurality
of memory cards, respectively, and arranging and holding the
contacts therein, the card connector comprises at least one locking
member located at a predetermined position on the housing and
pivotable or movable when one kind of card is inserted, and at
least one spring member displaceable when one kind of card is
inserted, thereby permitting only one kind of card to be inserted
with the aid of the locking member and the spring member. FIGS. 1,
2 and 3 of the Patent Literature 2 show contacts each correspond to
respective card in one-to-one relationship.
[0008] In recent years, miniaturizations have proceeded in the
information appliances as well as substrates or boards used therein
so that areas occupied by the substrates have become narrower. Such
a limitation of areas occupied by the substrates leads to the use
of a plurality of substrates. Moreover, if a plurality of
connectors is required for exchanging a plurality of memory cards,
information appliances would become bulky which would be
inconvenient for carrying them. Consequently, card connectors for
receiving a plurality of cards have been proposed as in the Patent
Literatures 1 and 2.
[0009] The card connectors disclosed in the Patent Literatures 1
and 2 suffer several disadvantages from plural kinds of contacts
necessarily required correspondingly to a plurality of cards to be
inserted, complicated arrangement of connection portions of the
contacts, and difficulties in assembling operationality and
mounting operation by a customer. Moreover, as the plural kinds of
contacts are required corresponding to the number of cards, areas
occupied by the substrates will increase, resulting in limitation
of freedom for design of the substrate and connector.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
[0010] It is an object of the invention to provide a card connector
which overcomes the disadvantages of the prior art described above
and which has a high degree of freedom for design of substrate and
connector without complicating the arrangement of connection
portions of contacts and is easy to assemble and easy to mount
connection portions onto a substrate by a customer or consumer.
[0011] The above object can be achieved by a card connector 10 into
and from which a plurality of cards are inserted and removed,
including a required number of contacts 14 each having a contact
portion adapted to contact the card, and a housing 12 arranging and
holding the contacts 14 and having one or plural fitting openings
each into which the card is inserted, wherein according to the
invention the contacts 14 each comprise contact portions 22 and 24
to contact at least two cards 50 and 60 so that the same contact 14
can be brought into contact with at least two cards 50 and 60.
[0012] In the case that two cards 50 and 60 are inserted into upper
and lower fitting openings arranged one above the other, the above
object can be achieved by a card connector 10 into and from which
two cards 50 and 60 are inserted and removed one above the other,
including a required number of contacts 14 each having a contact
portion adapted to contact the card 50, 60, and a housing 12
arranging and holding the contacts 14 and having two fitting
openings 26 and 28 into which the cards 50 and 60 are inserted,
respectively, wherein according to the invention the contacts 14
each comprise contact portions 22 and 24 to contact the two cards
50 and 60, respectively, so that the same contact 14 can be brought
into contact with the two cards 50 and 60.
[0013] The housing 12 includes an upper wall 30, a lower wall 32,
two side walls 34 for connecting the upper and lower walls 30 and
32, and a rear wall 36, and these upper 30, lower 32, two side 34
and rear 36 walls form the one or plural fitting openings 26 and
28, and the two side walls 34 are each provided at the inside with
guide means 38 for guiding the card to the contact portions 22 and
24 of the contacts when the card 50, 60 is inserted.
[0014] The contacts 14 each comprise a connection portion 16 at one
end adapted to be connected to a substrate or the like, a holding
portion 18 provided contiguously to the connection portion 16 for
fixing the contact to the housing 12, and contact pieces 20 at the
other end, which are formed by dividing the portion adjacent to and
extending from the holding portion 18 toward the other end into a
plurality of pieces each having a contact portion 22, 24 adapted to
contact the corresponding card.
[0015] The contact pieces 20 of the contacts 14 adapted to contact
a card 60 to be inserted into the fitting opening 28 upper than the
lowermost fitting opening 26 are bent such that the bent contact
pieces 20 of the contacts 14 do not extend into the lower fitting
opening 26. Moreover, the contacts 14 are inserted into the housing
12 from the side of the fitting opening and held in the
housing.
[0016] As can be seen from the above description, the card
connector according to the invention can bring about the following
significant function and effect. According to the invention, the
connector 10 into and from which a plurality of cards are inserted
and removed, including a required number of contacts 14 each having
a contact portion adapted to contact the card, and a housing 12
arranging and holding the contacts 14 and having one or plural
fitting openings each into which the card is inserted, wherein the
contacts 14 each comprise contact portions 22 and 24 to contact at
least two cards 50 and 60 so that the same contact 14 can be
brought into contact with at least two cards 50 and 60. Therefore,
the card connector 10 according to the invention has a high degree
of freedom for design of substrate and connector without
complicating the arrangement of connection portions 16 of contacts
14 and without any limitation of areas occupied by substrates, and
is easy to assemble and easy to mount connection portions onto a
substrate by a customer or consumer.
[0017] According to the invention, the card connector 10 into and
from which two cards 50 and 60 are inserted and removed one above
the other, including a required number of contacts 14 each having a
contact portion adapted to contact the card 50, 60, and a housing
12 arranging and holding the contacts 14 and having two fitting
openings 26 and 28 into which the cards 50 and 60 are inserted,
respectively, wherein the contacts 14 each comprise contact
portions 22 and 24 to contact the two cards 50 and 60,
respectively, so that the same contact 14 can be brought into
contact with the two cards 50 and 60. Consequently, the card
connector 10 according to the invention has a high degree of
freedom for design of substrate and connector without complicating
the arrangement of connection portions 16 of contacts 14 and
without any limitation of areas occupied by substrates, and is easy
to assemble and easy to mount connection portions onto a substrate
by a customer or consumer.
[0018] According to the invention, the housing 12 includes an upper
wall 30, a lower wall 32, two side walls 34 for connecting the
upper and lower walls 30 and 32, and a rear wall 36, and these
upper 30, lower 32, two side 34 and rear 36 walls form the one or
plural fitting openings 26 and 28, and the two side walls 34 are
each provided at the inside with guide means 38 for guiding the
card to the contact portions 22 and 24 of the contacts when the
card 50, 60 is inserted. Therefore, the cards 50 and 60 can be
reliably conducted to the contact portions 22 and 24 of the
contacts 14.
[0019] According to the invention, the contacts 14 each comprise a
connection portion 16 at one end adapted to be connected to a
substrate or the like, a holding portion 18 provided contiguously
to the connection portion 16 for fixing the contact to the housing
12, and contact pieces 20 at the other end, which are formed by
dividing the portion adjacent to and extending from the holding
portion 18 toward the other end into a plurality of pieces each
having a contact portion 22, 24 adapted to contact the
corresponding card. Accordingly, it is possible to provide a card
connector 10 which is able to be connected to a plurality of cards
50 and 60 by the use of the same contacts 14.
[0020] According to the invention, the contact pieces 20 of the
contacts 14 adapted to contact a card 60 to be inserted into the
fitting opening 28 upper than the lowermost fitting opening 26 are
bent such that the bent contact pieces 20 of the contacts 14 do not
extend into the lower fitting opening 26. Therefore, the same
contacts 14 can be securely brought into contact with a plurality
of cards 50 and 60 and there is no card to which the contacts could
not be connected.
[0021] According to the invention, the contacts 14 are inserted
into the housing 12 from the side of the fitting opening and held
in the housing. Therefore, the contacts 14 having a plurality of
contact pieces 20 can be easily inserted into the housing 12, and
unintentional deformation of the contacts 14 is easy to
confirm.
[0022] The invention will be more fully understood by referring to
the following detailed specification and claims taken in connection
with the appended drawings.
BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS
[0023] FIG. 1A is a perspective view of a card connector viewed
from the above on the fitting opening side;
[0024] FIG. 1B is a perspective view of the card connector similar
to that shown in FIG. 1A, with the upper wall of the housing
removed;
[0025] FIG. 2A is a perspective view of the card connector with a
card inserted into the upper fitting opening;
[0026] FIG. 2B is a perspective view of the card connector with a
card inserted into the lower fitting opening;
[0027] FIG. 3 is a perspective view of a contact used in the card
connector; and
[0028] FIG. 4 is a front view of the card connector.
DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS
[0029] One embodiment of the invention will be explained with
reference to FIGS. 1A to 4. FIG. 1A is a perspective view of the
card connector viewed from above on the side of its fitting
opening, while FIG. 1B is a perspective view of the card connector
similar to that shown in FIG. 1 with the upper wall of its housing
removed. FIG. 2A is a perspective view of the card connector with a
card inserted in the upper fitting opening, while FIG. 2B is a
perspective view of the card connector with a card inserted in the
lower fitting opening. FIG. 3 is a perspective view of a contact
used in the card connector according to the invention. FIG. 4 is a
front elevation of the card connector.
[0030] The card connector 10 according to the invention mainly
comprises contacts 14 and a housing 12.
[0031] Before explaining the components of the card connector, the
cards will be explained. The cards are used for printers, card
readers and the like. The cards each mainly comprise contact
portions adapted to contact the contact portions 22 and 24 of the
contacts 14, patterns connecting from the contact portions of the
card to circuits, and connection portions adapted to be connected
to integrated circuits and central processing units mounted on the
patterns. Cards to be used for the card connector 10 according to
the invention include Multimedia card (registered trademark), SD
card (Secure Digital memory card) (registered trademark),
Memory-Stick (registered trademark), SmartMedia (registered
trademark), CompactFlash (registered trademark), xD card
(registered trademark), Memory-Stick Duo (registered trademark),
and the like, these being IC cards having built-in CPU or IC for
memory.
[0032] With the card connector 10 in the illustrated embodiment,
the Memory-Stick 60 is inserted into the upper fitting opening, and
the Memory-Stick Duo 50 is inserted into the lower fitting
opening.
[0033] First, the contact 14 will be explained which is a subject
matter of the invention. The contacts 14 are made of a metal and
formed by means of the press-working of the known technique.
Preferred metals from which to form the contacts 14 include brass,
beryllium copper, phosphor bronze and the like which comply with
the requirements such as electric conductivity, springiness,
workability, and the like.
[0034] The contact 14 comprises at least contact portions 22 and 24
adapted to contact the plurality of cards 50 and 60, respectively,
a holding portion 18 to be fixed to the housing 12, and a
connection portion 16 to be connected to a substrate.
[0035] An important aspect of the contact 14 according to the
invention lies in the feature capable of contacting a plurality of
cards. For example, the contact 14 can contact both the
Memory-Stick 60 inserted in the upper fitting opening and the
Memory-Stick Duo 50 inserted in the lower fitting opening of the
card connector. While the contact can contact the two cards 50 and
60 as shown in FIG. 3, it will be apparent that it is possible to
design the contact to be able to contact more than two cards.
[0036] While the connection portion 16 of the contact 14 is of a
surface mounting type (SMT) in the illustrated embodiment, it may
be of a dip type. The connection portion 16 of the contact 14 may
be suitably designed according to a specification of the substrate
to which the connection portion 16 is connected. In the illustrated
embodiment, the connection portion 16 extends onto the side of the
insertion of the cards 50 and 60 (on the side of the fitting
openings 26 and 28 for the cards), although the connection portion
16 may extend onto the opposite side of the fitting openings. The
extending direction of the connection portion may be suitably
designed in consideration of the specification of the substrate,
positions of the contact portions of the cards 50 and 60 and
positions of insertion of the cards into the upper and lower
fitting openings. It is preferable to insert and hold the contact
14 into the housing from the side of the fitting opening (from the
side of the insertion of the cards) in view of easier insertion of
the contact and easier ascertainment of deformation of the
contact.
[0037] The holding portion 18 of the contact 14 serves to fix the
contact 14 to the housing 12 by press-fitting arrow-head members
into the housing 12, the arrow-head members being previously
provided at the holding portion 18 to extend in width directions.
Other than the press-fitting, it may be fixed to the housing 12 by
hooking, welding, or the like. The size of the holding portion 18
may be suitably designed in consideration of the fact that the
forwardly extending portion from the holding portion 18 is divided
into a plurality of contact pieces 20 as described below, and the
strength of the housing 12, miniaturization of the card connector
10 and the like. In the illustrated embodiment, the holding portion
18 is approximately 25 mm in width.
[0038] As described above, in order to bring the contact 14 (a
single contact) into a plurality of cards (two cards in the
illustrated embodiment), the forwardly extending portion from the
holding portion 18 is divided into two contact pieces 20 extending
in the longitudinal direction in the illustrated embodiment. The
contact pieces 20 are each provided at its tip with a contact
portion 22, 24 adapted to contact the respective card 50, 60.
Positions of the contact portions 22 and 24 are suitably designed
so that they extend into the respective fitting openings 26 and 28
to obtain predetermined contact pressures as shown in FIG. 1B, and
further in consideration of positions of the contact portions of
the cards 50 and 60 to be inserted and recognition of the cards to
be inserted into the upper and lower fitting openings. As the
Memory-Stick 60 is to be inserted into the upper fitting opening
and the Memory-Stick Duo 50 is to be inserted into the lower
fitting opening in the illustrated embodiment, the contact portion
24 to contact the Memory-Stick 60 in the upper fitting opening is
longer and arranged at a higher position, and the contact portion
22 to contact the Memory-Stick Duo 50 in the lower fitting opening
is shorter and arranged at a lower position. In order to locate the
contact portion 24 for the Memory-Stick at the higher position to
extend into the fitting opening 28 for the Memory-Stick, the
contact piece 20 of the contact 14 is bent at its mid portion. The
mid portion of the contact piece 20 at which it is bent is designed
so as to avoid the bent portion of the contact piece 20 from
extending into the lower fitting opening 26 for the Memory-Stick
Duo 50. In other words, the contact piece 20 of the contact 14
adapted to contact the card 60 to be inserted into the upper
fitting opening 28 is bent so as not to extend into the lower
fitting opening 26 below the upper fitting opening 28. Widths of
the contact pieces 20 are about one half of the width of the
holding portion 18.
[0039] The housing 12 will then be explained. The housing 12 is
formed from an electrically insulating plastic material by means of
the injection molding of the known technique. The materials
suitable for the housing 12 include polybutylene terephthalate
(PBT), polyamide (66PA or 46PA), liquid crystal polymer (LCP),
polycarbonate (PC) and the like and combination thereof in
consideration of dimensional stability, workability, manufacturing
cost and the like. The housing 12 may be provided with a required
number of fitting openings into which a plurality of cards is
inserted, respectively. The housing 12 is provided with two fitting
openings 26 and 28 arranged one above the other in the illustrated
embodiment. Sizes of the fitting openings 26 and 28 are suitably
designed so that the cards 50 and 60 can be inserted into the
fitting openings, respectively, and on insertion of the cards 50
and 60, they can be brought into contact with the contacts 14.
[0040] The housing 12 comprises at least an upper wall 30, a lower
wall 32, two side walls 34 and a rear wall 36. A required number of
intermediate walls may be provided depending upon the number of
cards to be inserted, as the case may be. The upper wall 30, the
lower wall 32, the two side walls 34 and the rear wall 36 form the
upper fitting opening 28 for the Memory-Stick 60 and the lower
fitting opening 26 for the Memory-Stick Duo 50.
[0041] The side walls 34 are each provided on the inside with
guides 38 for the purpose of facilitating conducting the inserted
cards to the respective contact portions 22 and 24 of the contacts.
Sizes of the guides 38 may be determined to enable the cards 50 and
60 to be guided to the respective contact portions 22 and 24 of the
contacts and may be suitably designed in consideration of the sizes
of the cards 50 and 60 and the strength of the housing 12.
[0042] Although the card connector having two fitting openings for
the cards 50 and 60 arranged one above the other is shown in the
illustrated embodiment, it is to be understood that a card
connector may be constructed to bring a plurality of cards into
contact with the same contacts irrespective of the number of
cards.
[0043] Examples of applications of the present invention are card
connectors 10 for use in electric and electronic appliances in
instruments and for use in printers and card readers and
particularly card connectors capable of accommodating a plurality
of cards with the same contacts 14.
[0044] While the invention has been particularly shown and
described with reference to the preferred embodiments thereof, it
will be understood by those skilled in the art that the foregoing
and other changes in form and details can be made therein without
departing from the spirit and scope of the invention.
* * * * *